Alia Shawkat on Fantasies, Millennials, and Making Her Theatrical Debut in ‘You Got Older’

I’ve seen versions of that.

Everyone’s, like, hating on millennials. I’m like, whatever. I don’t know. I’m just doing my best, trying to stay alive. I mean, I’m really proud of Search Party. I think Search Party is definitely of a time, and it’s definitely about millennials. It was also the beginning of social media and branding, and this idea of what a hipster is, and all those things. And it was commenting on it very acutely, I think.

And, yeah, that’s not the case anymore. We’re in a whole other generation, and there’s a lot more even weirder, fucked-up things that the younger generation is having to deal with. But to bring it back to me, I think I’m just really drawn to this story. I think it’s quite timeless, honestly. I don’t really find it to be so specific to a generation. I think the voice maybe has that tone, if that makes sense; Clare’s poetry in finding something so deep in something so simple. I do feel like any generation can relate to that.

But I love to think that You Got Older will be a classic play that’ll go on for years and years and years. You’ll be able to pull it out and do it again, and it’ll still hold up because it’s so real. It’s so subtle and realistic and hits this bone of: Can we ever be present enough with our loved ones? I don’t know if we can, and it’s really hard.

The play deals with sexuality and family. Was that one of the aspects of the piece that you were interested in? I know your parents own a strip club, and you’ve spoken about how that shaped your view of sexuality.

That was a huge draw. When I read it the first time, besides it being so funny and me crying, by the end I was like, wow, this play kind of made me uncomfortable, which is pretty hard to do.

I think Mae is really going through something so visceral. I relate to it so much, of having sexual fantasies that take over, and all of a sudden you’re kind of overwhelmed by your fantasy. You’re like, Am I letting the fantasy get the fucking best of me? And I’d rather live in the fantasy than my own life, even if I’m masturbating or I’m having sex with someone? It’s this idea of escapism. I think she uses sex as a balm, and I’ve definitely related to that in times of my life.

I mean, the moment where Dad comes to play me his theme song and my fantasy is still there, it’s such a great moment of being like, I can’t escape it. I’m living with both. And I think that’s just really poetic and true, and part of what it’s like to be a woman: that your fantasies, kind of sadly, can sometimes be your only thing you have. You’re not really getting laid that well in life, and you’re like, can’t talk about it with anybody.